Important references for wildlife corridor design
Here are some of the most useful works on designing wildlife corridors. For technical details,
we also recommend reading ESRI's help files on cost distance. We will update this section periodically as we are made aware of new literature. If you know of any good references
we are missing, please let us know!
Recently published books on corridors and connectivity
Adams, J.S. The future of the wild: radical conservation for a crowded world. Beacon Press, Boston. 267 pp.
Anderson, A.B., and C.N. Jenkins. 2006. Applying nature's design: corridors as a strategy for biodiversity conservation. Columbia University Press. 231 pp.
Bennett, A.F. 2003. Linkages in the landscape: the role of corridors and connectivity in wildlife conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. 254 pp. (Available as a free PDF from the IUCN)
Crooks, K.R., and M. Sanjayan, eds. 2006. Connectivity conservation. Cambridge University Press. 728 pp.
Foreman, D. 2004. Rewilding North America: a vision for conservation in the 21st century. Island Press. 219 pp.
Hilty, J.A., W.Z. Lidicker, A.M. Merenlender, and A.P. Dobson. 2006. Corridor ecology: the science and practice of linking landscapes for biodiversity conservation. Island Press. 325 pp.
White, P.A. 2007. Getting up to speed: A conservationist’s guide to wildlife and highways. Defenders of Wildlife. (Available as a free PDF Defenders of Wildlife)
Published literature
Adriaensen, F., J. P. Chardon, G. deBlust, E. Swinnen, S. Villalba, H. Gulinck, and E. Matthysen. 2003. The application of ‘least-cost’ modeling as a functional landscape model. Landscape and Urban Planning 64:233-247.
Adriaensen, F., M. Githiru, J. Mwang’ombe, E. Matthysen, and L. Lens. 2007. Restoration and increase of connectivity among fragmented forest patches in the Taita Hills, Southeast Kenya. Part II Technical Report, CEPF project 1095347968. University of Gent, Gent, Belgium.
Bani, L., M. Baietto, L. Bottoni, and R. Massa. 2002. The use of focal species in designing a habitat network for a lowland area of Lombardy, Italy. Conservation Biology 16:826-831.
Beier, P., K. Penrod, C. Luke, W. Spencer, and C. Cabañero. 2006. South Coast Missing Linkages: restoring connectivity to wildlands in the largest metropolitan area in the United States. Pages 555-586 in K. R. Crooks and M. A. Sanjayan, editors. Connectivity conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U. K.
Beier, P., D. R. Majka, and T. Bayless. 2007. Eight linkage designs for Arizona’s missing linkages. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix.
Beier, P., and R. F. Noss. 1998. Do habitat corridors provide connectivity? Conservation Biology 12:1241-1252.
Beier, P., and S. Loe. 1992. A checklist for evaluating impacts to wildlife movement corridors. Wildlife Society Bulletin 20:434-440.
Beissinger, S. R. and M. I. Westphal. 1998. on the use of demographic models of population viability in endangered species management. Journal of Wildlife Management 62:821-841.
Berry, O, M. D. Tocher, D. M. Gleeson, and S. D. Sarre. 2005. Effect of vegetation matrix on animal dispersal: genetic evidence from a study of endangered skinks. Conservation Biology 19:855-864.
Brooks, T. M., da Fonseca, G. A. B., and A. S. L. Rodrigues. 2004. Species, data, and conservation planning. Conservation Biology 18:1682-1688.
Broquet, T., N. Ray, E. Petit, J. M. Fryxell, and F. Burel. 2006. Genetic isolation by distance and landscape connectivity in the American marten Martes americana. Landscape Ecology. 21:877-889.
Bunn, A.G., D.L. Urban, and T.H. Keitt. 2000. Landscape connectivity: A conservation application of graph theory. Journal of Environmental Management 59:265-278.
Burgman, M. A., D. B. Lindenmayer, and J. Elith. 2005. Managing landscapes for conservation under uncertainty. Ecology 86:2007-2017.
Carr, M. H., T. D. Hoctor, C. Goodison, P. D. Zwick, J. Green, P. Hernandez, C. McCain, J. Teisinger, K. Whitney. 2002. Final Report. Southeastern Ecological Framework. The GeoPlan Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Carroll, C., R. F. Noss, P. C. Paquet, and N. H. Schumaker. 2003. Use of population viability analysis and reserve selection algorithms in regional conservation plans. Ecological Applications 13:1773-1789.
Clevenger, A. P., J. Wierzchowski, B. Chruszcz, and K. Gunson. 2002. GIS-directed, expert-based models for identifying wildlife habitat linkages and planning mitigation passages. Conservation Biology 16:503-514.
Dickson, B. G., and P. Beier. 2007. Quantifying the influence of topographic position on cougar movement in southern California USA. Journal of Zoology (London) 271:270-277.
Dixon, J. D., M. K. Oli, M. C. Wooten, T. H. Eason, J. W. McCown, and D. Paetkau. 2006. Effectiveness of a regional corridor in connecting two Florida black bear populations. Conservation Biology 20:155-162.
Epps, C. W., P. Palsboell, J. D. Wehausen, G. K. Roderick, R. Ramey, and D. R. McCullough. 2005. Highways block gene flow and cause a rapid decline in genetic diversity of desert bighorn sheep. Ecology Letters 8:1029-1038.
Environmental Law Institute. 2003. Conservation thresholds for land use planners. Environmental Law Institute, Washington D.C. Available as a free PDF.
Fahrig, L., and G. Merriam. 1994. Conservation of fragmented populations. Conservation Biology 8:50-59.
Ferreras, P. 2001. Landscape structure and asymmetrical inter-patch connectivity in a metapopulation of the endangered Iberian lynx. Biological Conservation 100:125-136.
Fleury, A. M., and R. D. Brown. 1997. A framework for the design of wildlife conservation corridors with specific application to southwestern Ontario. Landscape and Urban Planning 37:163-186.
Gerlach, G., and K. Musolf. 2000. Fragmentation of landscape as a cause for genetic subdivision in bank voles. Conservation Biology 14:1066-1074.
Glenn, E. M., and W. J. Ripple. 2004. On using digital maps to assess wildlife habitat. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32:852-860.
Graham, C. 2001. Factors influencing movement patterns of keel-billed toucans in a fragmented tropical landscape i southern Mexico. Conservation Biology 15:1789-1798.
Guisan, A., and W. Thuiller. 2005. Predicting species distribution: offering more than simple habitat models. Ecology Letters 8:993-1009.
Haddad, N. M., D. R. Bowne, A. Cunningham, B. J. Danielson, D. J. Levey, S. Sargent, and T. Spira. 2003. Corridor use by diverse taxa. Ecology 84:609-615.
Haddad, N. M., and J. J. Tewksbury. 2005. Low-quality habitat corridors as movement conduits for two butterfly species. Ecological Applications 15:250-257.
Haines, A. M., M. E. Tewes, and J. Young. 2006. Habitat based population viability analysis of ocelots in southern Texas. Biological Conservation 132:424-436.
Hargrove, W. W., F. M. Hoffman, and R. A. Efroymson. 2004. A practical map-analysis tool for detecting potential dispersal corridors. Landscape Ecology 20:361-373.
Harrison, R. L. 1992. Toward a theory of inter-refuge corridor design. Conservation Biology 6:293-295.
Hoctor, T. S., M. H. Carr, and P. D. Zwick. 2000. Identifying a linked reserve system using a regional landscape appraoach: the Florida Ecological Network. Conservation Biology 14:984-1000.
Horskins, K., P. B. Mather, and J. C. Wilson. 2006. Corridors and connectivity: when use and function do not equate. Landscape Ecology 21:641-655.
Hunter, R. D., R. N. Fisher, and K. R. Crooks. 2003. Landscape-level connectivity in coastal southern California USA as assessed through carnivore habitat suitability. Natural Areas Journal 23:302-314.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2001. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis. Third Assessment Report. United Nations Environment Program, Geneva.
Joly, P., S. Morand, and A. Cohas. 2003. Habitat fragmentation and amphibian conservation: building a tool for assessing landscape matrix connectivity. C. R. Biologies 326:S132-S139.
Jordán, F. 2000. A reliability-theory approach to corridor design. Ecological Modelling 128:211-220.
Jordán, F., A. Baldi, M-M. Orci, I. Racz, and Z. Varga. 2003. Characterizing the importance of habitat patches and corridors in maintaining the landscape connectivity of a Pholidoptera tanssylvanica (Orthoptera) metapopulation. Landscape Ecology 18:83-92.
Kautz, R., R. Kawula, T. Hoctor, J. Comiskey, D. Jansen, D. Jennings, J. Kasbohm, F. Mazzotti, R. McBride, L. Richardson, and K. Root. 2006. How much is enough? landscape level conservation for the Flroida panther. Biological Conservation 130:118-133.
Kobler, A., and M. Adamic. 1999. Brown bears in Slovenia: identifying locations for construction of wildlife bridges across highways. In: Evink, G.; Garrett, P. Zeigler, D. eds. Proceedings of International Conference on Ecology and Transportation. not paginated, available at http://www.icoet.net/ICOWET/99proceedings.asp.
Larkin, J. L., D. S. Maehr, T. S. Hoctor, M. A. Orlando, and K. Whitney. 2004. Landscape linkages and conservation planning for the black bear in west-central Florida. Animal Conservation 7:23-34.
Malczewski, J. 2000. On the use of weighted linear combination method in GIS: common and best practice approaches. Transactions in GIS 4:5-22.
Marulli, J., and J. M. Mallarach. 2005. A GIS methodology for assessing ecological connectivity: application to the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Landscape and Urban Planning 71:243-262.
McRae, B. 2006. Isolation by resistance: a model of gene flow in heterogeneous landscapes. Evolution 60:1551-1561.
McCarthy, M. A., M. A. Burgman, and S. Ferson. 1995. Sensitivity analysis for models of population viability. Biological Conservation 73:93-100.
Millspaugh, J. J., and J. M. Marzluff. 2001. Radio tracking and animal populations. Academic Press, San Diego, California..
National Highway Cooperative Research Program. 2004. Environmental stewardship practices, procedures, and policies for highway construction and maintenance. Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C.
National Research Council. 2005. Assessing and managing the ecological impacts of paved roads. NRC Press, Washington D.C.
Newell, S. L. 2006. An evaluation of a science-based approach to habitat linkage design. M.S. Thesis, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Noss, R. F., and K. M. Daly. 2006. Incorporating connectivity into broad-scale conservation planning. Pages 587-619 in K. R. Crooks and M. A. Sanjayan, editors. Connectivity conservation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Possingham, H. P., I. R. Ball, and S. Andelman. 2000. Mathematical methods for identifying reserve networks. Pages 291-306 in S. Ferson and M. Burgman, editors. Quantitative methods for conservation biology. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Quinby, P., S. Trombulak, T. Lee, J. Lane, M. Henry, R. Long, and P. MacKay. 1999. Opportunities for wildlife habitat connectivity between Algonquin Provincial Park and the Adirondack Park. Ancient Forest Exploration and Research, Powassan, Ontario.
Rouget, M., R. M. Cowling, A. T. Lombard, A. T. Knight, and G. H. Kerley. 2006. Designing large-scale conservation corridors for pattern and process. Conservation Biology 20:549-561.
Schadt, S., F. Knauer, P. Kaczensky, E. Ravilla, T. Wiegand, and L. Trep. 2002. Rule-based assessment of suitable habitat and patch connectivity for the Eurasian lynx. Ecological Applications 12:1469-1483.
Servheen, C., J. S. Walker, and P. Sandstrom. 2001. Identification and management of linkage zones for grizzly bears between the large blocks of public land in the northern Rocky Mountains. Proceedings of International Conference on Ecology and Transportation 161-179.
Singleton, P. H., W. L. Gaines, and J. F. Lehmkuhl. 2002. Landscape permeability for large carnivores in Washington: a geographic information system weighted-distance and least-cost corridor assessment. Research Paper PNW-RP-549. 89 pp. Available as a free PDF.
South Coast Wildlands (lead authors: K. Penrod, C. Cabañero, P. Beier, C. Luke. W. Spencer, and E. Rubin. S. Loe, K. Keyer, R. Sauvajot, S. Shapiro, and D. Kamradt co-authored some reports). 2003-2006. Linkage designs for the South Coast ecoregion of California. available from scwildlands.org (accessed March 2007).
Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project. 2005. Linking Colorado’s landscapes: a statewide assessment of wildlife linkages, Phase I report. Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, Denver, Colorado.
Sutcliffe, O. L., V. Bakkestuen, G. Fry, and O. D. Stabbetorp. 2003. Modelling the benefits of farmland restoration: methodology and application to butterfly movement. Landscape and Urban Planning 63:15-31.
Theobald, D. M. 2006. Exploring the functional connectivity of landscapes using landscape networks. Pages 416-443 in K. R. Crooks and M. A. Sanjayan, editors, Connectivity conservation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. U. K.
Urban, D., and T. Keitt. 2001. Landscape connectivity: a graph-theoretic perspective. Ecology 82:1205-1218.
US Fish and Wildlife Service. 1981. Standards for the development of Suitability Index Models. Division of Ecological Services, Government Printing Office, Washington DC. Available as a free PDF.
van Langevelde, F. 2000. Scale of habitat connectivity and colonization in fragmented nuthatch populations. Ecography 23:614-622.
Ventura County. 2005. Guidelines for safe wildlife passage. Ventura County Planning Devision, Ventura, CA USA. 45pp.
Verbeylen, G., L. De Bruyn, .F Adriaensen, and E. Matthysen. 2003. Does matrix resistance influence red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris L. 1758) distribution in an urban landscape? Landscape Ecology 18:791-805.
Walker, R. and L. Craighead. 1997. Analyzing wildlife movement corridors in Montana using GIS. 1997. Environmental Sciences Research Institute. Proceedings of the 1997 International ESRI Users conference. Available from http://gis.esri.com/library/userconf/proc97/proc97/to150/pap116/p116.htm (accessed March 2007).
Wikramanayake, E., M. McKnight, E. Dinerstein, A. Joshi, B. Gurung, and D. Smith. 2004. Designing a conservation landscape for tigers in human-dominated ecosystems. Conservation Biology 18:839-844.
Wilcove, D. S., C. H. McLellan, and A. P. Dobson. 1986. Habitat fragmentation in the temperate zone. Pages 237-256 in M. E. Soulé, editor, Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diverstiy. Sinauer, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Wilcox, B. A., and D. D. Murphy. 1985. Conservation strategy: the effects of fragmentation on extinction. American Naturalist 125:879-887.
Williams, P., L. Hannah, S. Andelman, G. Midgley, M. Araujo, G. Hughes, L. Manne, E. Martinez-Meyer, and R. Pearson. 2005. Planning for climate change: identifying minimum-dispersal corridors for the cape Protaceae. Conservation Biology 19:1063-1074.
Yang, L., S. V. Stehman, J. H. Smith, and J. D. Wickham. 2001. Thematic accuracy of MRLC land cover for the eastern United States. Remote Sensing of Environment 76:418-422.
